Christ and the Woman of Samaria

William Dyce

Date: 1860

Materials: Oil on millboard

Although William Dyce had little direct contact with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, he was sympathetic to its aims and practice, and brought the young artists' work to the attention of John Ruskin. Dyce's own work became heavily influenced by Pre-Raphaelite ideas.

'Christ and the Woman of Samaria' depicts The New Testament story in John 4. Seated by a well in Samaria, Jesus converses with a local woman, in itself a gesture of reconciliation between the Jews and Samaritans, who were long-term enemies. While the woman seeks water as a simple necessity of life, Jesus speaks of the living (flowing) water as a sign of eternal life, emanating from God.